So, you’ve decided to start building your website with Showit. Great choice, if we may say so.

Maybe one of the deciding factors for you was the way Showit seamlessly integrates with WordPress for all your blogging needs.

Or wait… maybe you haven’t decided just yet. You’re still thinking about going with a WordPress website and using one of the platform’s themes instead of building a site with a builder like Showit.

Okay, we’ll entertain that option.

Now it’s a question of figuring out which way to go. After all, whether you choose one of the best WordPress themes or you choose a Showit + WordPress combo, you want to find something that gives you ease of use, great performance, and high-ranking SEO.

Spoiler: you don’t have to choose Showit OR WordPress. You can use them both together!

Before we get into WordPress themes and how they compare, let’s go over how Showit integrates with WordPress to give you the best of both worlds.

How WordPress and Showit Work Together

When you build a website with Showit, you use its web-building tool to control all aspects of the design.

By that we mean things like colors, fonts, and graphics. 

WordPress, on the other hand, manages all of the blog content.

You'll write blog posts with WordPress, but you'll visually design them with all the tools available to you in Showit.

That means you don’t have to worry about coding, HTML, or trying to rig WordPress.

This is a great option for creative professionals like photographers and designers who want a visually-heavy site but without a lot of stress.

Similarly, if you’re a blogger who simply wants your blog to look great, Showit and WordPress are the perfect pair.

Top 5 WordPress Themes for Designers & Creatives

When we talk about a WordPress theme, we’re referring to a collection of templates and stylesheets that give your WordPress site its distinct visual appearance and layout. 

A theme controls how your content is displayed, including things like your colors, fonts, page structure, and widget locations.

A theme lets you change the look and feel of your website without altering the core functionality or content management system of WordPress itself.

While there are thousands of WordPress themes available to choose from (yeah, really), you also have the option of customizing them to fit your specific needs and preferences.

Here are our top five picks for our favorite WordPress themes for designers and creatives.

1. Elementor (Hello Theme + Elementor Pro)

Elementor combines the minimalist WordPress theme Hello with Elementor Pro, the premium version of the page builder plugin.

This combination gives you a drag-and-drop builder with extensive design flexibility, plus a large library of pre-made templates and widgets. It’s great because it’s beginner-friendly and lets you achieve high customization without any coding.

On the downside, it can slow your site speed if you don’t optimize it. And while many beginners find it user-friendly, you might still need time to learn some of the more advanced features.

2. Divi by Elegant Themes

The Divi theme is an all-in-one visual builder with advanced design capabilities that makes it easy for you to try A/B testing, along with other marketing tools.

It’s great for agencies and has a pricing option that lets you buy it for life, but this does set you up for potential lock-in with the Divi framework.

That can be a problem because your site will be heavily dependent on Divi’s shortcodes and layout structure, making it difficult to switch to a different page builder later on.

3. Simplice

Simplice is a portfolio-focused WordPress theme for designers that offers custom layout-building capabilities without pre-made templates.

This makes it great for anyone who wants high creative control and a sleek, modern design. However, it’s not exactly beginner friendly and could call for a more complex setup.

4. Astra

Astra is a lightweight, fast-loading WordPress theme that’s compatible with Elementor and Beaver Builder. On the plus side, it’s highly customizable and optimized for performance, but some features require you to sign up for the pro version.

5. GeneratePress

The last on our list of the best WordPress themes for designers is GeneratePress, which is focused on performance and speed.

It has a minimalist design, is SEO friendly, and can be easily customized. However, it does have some limited design flexibility without additional CSS. If you want advanced customization options, you’ll probably have to upgrade to the premium version.

 Showit + WordPress: The Best of Both Worlds

Before you choose a WordPress theme, stop and consider this: Using WordPress in conjunction with Showit actually combines the best of both platforms. 

You get the power of WordPress when it comes to content publishing, and the creative control that Showit offers — specifically, the drag-and-drop capability that lets you create your site to look exactly how you want it to.

So when you look at the benefits of our five picks for themes — Elementor, Divi, Simplice, Astra, and GeneratePress — Showit gives you pretty much everything you could want.

It has true ease of use with no restriction, so you have much more design freedom than you would have with most WordPress themes.

Now the question is: Which website builder should you use?

Which Website Builder Should You Choose?

We can’t make any one-size-fits-all recommendation when it comes to the choice between WordPress themes and using WordPress in conjunction with Showit (though you probably know our opinion!).

That said, we do have some thoughts to consider in specific situations. Here’s what we say is the best option for…

Best for Design Freedom → Showit

Why Choose Showit? Showit is the ideal choice for design freedom because you have 100% control without any coding required, and you still enjoy that seamless WordPress integration for powerful blogging and SEO.

It’s great when you’re setting up a portfolio for your service-based business, such as photography or graphic design.

Showit is geared toward visual-focused industries, such as designers or photographers, because of the way it simplifies setting up a portfolio and managing so many images.

It even gives you the benefit of creating separate mobile and desktop versions, so you show off your content in the best way possible for whatever device your visitors (aka potential customers) are using to look at it.

Things to Consider: Keep in mind that Showit has a monthly subscription cost, instead of a one-time purchase, and you’ll have limited e-commerce capabilities (so it’s not great if you’re running a huge store). It’s more focused on design than technical customization.

Best for WordPress Flexibility & Ease → Elementor

Why Choose Elementor? If you want that WordPress flexibility and ease (maybe you’re just a little overwhelmed by everything you can do with Showit), then your next best option is to use the Elementor website builder.

You'll find it works well with nearly any WordPress theme, and you can expand it with plugins and widgets for more functionality.

Things to Consider: You may slow down your site speed if too many elements are added.

You'll also find that some features require you to pay for Elementor Pro.

It’s worth keeping in mind that Elementor is about simplifying what you can do.

So you’re not going to have as much design freedom as you would have with Showit.

Best for Advanced Marketing & Agencies → Divi

Why Choose Divi? Marketing agencies should take a look at what Divi has to offer as a WordPress template.

Along with extensive design customization capabilities, Divi has built-in conversion optimization and marketing tools.

Unlike Elementor’s subscription model, it has a lifetime pricing option, so you don’t have to worry about ongoing payments. Plus, it makes it easy to manage many websites for all your individual clients.

Things to Consider: In some ways, Divi can feel “heavy” and slow if not optimized properly.

So be careful about how much you add to each page.

It’s less intuitive than Showit or Elementor if you’re a beginner; you should expect a bit of a learning curve based on the sheer number of features.

Best for Portfolio Sites → Simplice

Why Choose Simplice? When you’re creating a website to show off your portfolio, Simplice is an obvious answer. This theme is built specifically for designers with portfolios! It gives you fully customizable layouts, and its minimalistic design aesthetic puts the focus on your work. Plus, it’s a one-time purchase with no recurring fees.

Things to Consider: Simplice isn’t great for non-designers because it requires some technical skill to master.

There’s also limited support compared with a larger page builder.

If you aren’t focusing your site on a portfolio, it might not be a great fit for showing off what you have to offer.

Best for Performance-Focused Users → Astra or GeneratePress

Why Choose Astra or GeneratePress? If your biggest priority is performance, your best bet may be Astra or GeneratePress. Both are extremely lightweight and fast, so your website will work quickly and smoothly. They work well with page builders, yet also function without them if you prefer to go without. Astra and GeneratePress are highly customizable with a minimalist base design, so they make a good fit for a wide variety of uses, like bloggers, businesses, and developers.

Things to Consider: Although Astra and GeneratePress are built for performance, some of the customization takes a little extra effort (maybe even coding).

They also lack built-in page-building features. You’ll likely need to look at an upgrade to take advantage of some of their premium features.

The Final Verdict on Showit vs. WordPress

WordPress themes give you great options, particularly if you don’t think you’re ready for all the capabilities that using Showit in conjunction with WordPress would offer. 

There’s no perfect answer to the question of whether you should choose Showit vs. WordPress themes, or even if there’s a clear best website builder for creatives. Instead, you need to consider your needs, technical ability, and long-term site goals. With all of that in mind, you can choose the right platform for you.

If you’re curious about giving Showit a try (and who wouldn’t be?), you have a 14-day free trial with no strings attached. Consider getting started and seeing what you can do with full creative control!